Bernardo Pasquini

Bernardo Pasquini was an Italian composer and celebrated keyboard virtuoso of the Baroque period. He is known for his operas and works for harpsichord, but he was one of the most popular and respected musicians in Rome in the late 17th century. He was born in 1637 in Massa Valdinievole, a town in Tuscany, Italy. As a child he attended a school in Uzzano, where he studied with Mariotto Bocciantini. Throughout his teens, he lived with an uncle in Ferrara, and he received instruction from Antonio Cesti and Loreto Vittori. He also performed an intense analysis of the music of Frescobaldi and Palestrina, which had a lasting influence on his style as a composer. In 1653 he began his first professional appointment as the organist of the Accademia della Morte, which was a very prestigious position. After two years, he moved to Rome where he was in high demand as a church organist. He was employed at various churches and cathedrals around Rome until 1664 when he became the "Organist of the Senate and Roman People" at the St. Maria church in Ara Coeli. As the top virtuoso keyboardist in Rome, he was frequently called upon to perform for royalty and church officials, including King Louis XIV, Queen Christina of Sweden, and Cardinal Flavio Chigi. In addition to his position at St. Maria, he performed in oratorios at St. Marcello, and in 1666 he began an appointment as the musical director and harpsichordist for Prince Giambattista. In 1671 Pasquini moved into the Palazzo Borghese where he resided for the rest of his life. It was also around this time when he befriended violinist and composer Arcangelo Corelli. They performed together on many occasions, and Corelli also conducted some of Pasquini's works. They became respected leaders in the musician's guild, and they were very influential among the musician community. Pasquini's popularity as a composer of theatrical works was at its highest through the 1670s and then declined in the 1680s, as younger composers such as Alessandro Scarlatti emerged on the scene. Pasquini's compositional output slowed in the 1690s, but he produced several works for keyboard, three oratorios, and one opera. His reputation as an educator reached far beyond Rome, and he attracted both local and foreign students including Georg Muffat, Johann Philipp Krieger, and Scarlatti's son Domenico. By 1706, Pasquini and Corelli had become members of the Arcadian Academy along with Scarlatti, and several other important composers and writers. Pasquini passed away in Rome in 1710.
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